Red Wings, not Larkin, should be vilified for trade request

It’s been about four months since the news went public that the former captain of the Detroit Red Wings, Dylan Larkin, had requested a trade away from the organization that picked him in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft.

Public opinion swung hard against Larkin, who was part of a cohort of American Olympic gold medalists to request trades from their NHL teams, including Brady Tkachuk and Connor Hellebuyck.

Now, Larkin has returned to the team and faced the music from fans and the media without a letter on his chest. His five points in eight games have helped Detroit to a 4-1-3 record since his return to the lineup, but the team remains outside the playoff picture in the early stages of the season.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk was joined by the host of The Sheet, Jeff Marek, to discuss why Larkin’s trade request should be seen less as him taking the easy way out and more as a failure on the part of the Red Wings.

Tyler Yaremchuk: One thing I wanted to run past you was, I saw Pete Blackburn who we had on the show yesterday, we were talking about how Dylan Larkin’s trade acceptance list, the list he submitted is basically the top 11 Stanley Cup contenders minus the Edmonton Oilers. People were kind of making fun of him for it, but I kind of sat there, and I actually think I have the opposite view of it. I kind of respect it. I look at that, and I kind of go, ‘No duh he wants to go to a winner.’ Like he’s not going to waive to go to wherever… Also, he’s giving them the top 10 Stanley Cup contenders. I think there’s a bit of a difference between the way I view Larkin asking out in Detroit. He gave them the bulk of the prime of his career, and he signed an extension and they didn’t deliver for him. I know you can talk about his numbers down the stretch this year and that year, but the team was clearly on the downturn… Kind of similar to Rick Nash in Columbus. Where it’s like okay, how many chances do I have to give you guys? That’s where I respect the Larking thing a bit more.

Jeff Marek: Here’s the thing about Larkin. You raise a really good point, and I’m with you on that… Who’s taking Team 32? Like, personalize it. Would you go to Team 32 or Team 30? No, of course not. We’re treating like this is a forced trade. This is not a forced trade. Detroit does not have to do this… There are plenty of players that have asked for trades that have never gotten them, and they’ve went out and they’ve played their entire contract. Trust me, it has happened in the NHL… This is not a forced trade. I know we’re treating it like Larkin has a gun to the head of the Detroit Red Wings… But it’s not… They don’t have to do this.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…